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It Chapter Two
| screenplay = Gary Dauberman | based on = | starring = | music = Benjamin Wallfisch | cinematography = Checco Varese | editing = Jason Ballantine | production companies = | distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures | released = | runtime = 169 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $79 million | gross = $473 million }} 'It Chapter Two' is a 2019 American supernatural horror film and the sequel to the 2017 film ''It, both based on the 1986 novel by Stephen King. The film is directed by Andy Muschietti, returning from the first film, with a screenplay by Gary Dauberman. Set in 2016, 27 years after the first film, it stars Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, and Bill Skarsgård, who returns as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Talks for an It sequel began in February 2016. By September 2017, New Line Cinema announced that it would be released in September 2019, with Dauberman writing the script and Muschietti to direct. Principal photography began on June 19, 2018, at Pinewood Toronto Studios and on locations in and around Port Hope, Oshawa and Toronto, Ontario and wrapped on October 31, 2018. The film is produced by New Line Cinema, Double Dream, Vertigo Entertainment and Rideback, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It Chapter Two premiered in Los Angeles on August 26, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 6, 2019, in 2D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX. The film has grossed over $473 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its acting and themes, but criticism for its near-three hour runtime and weaker scares compared to its predecessor. Plot In 2016 Derry, Maine, Don Hagarty witnesses his boyfriend Adrian Mellon being murdered by Pennywise after a gang of homophobic teenagers beat them up and throw Adrian off a bridge while leaving the annual Derry carnival. Overhearing a police scanner, Mike Hanlon discovers It has returned and calls his childhood friends, Bill Denbrough, Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, and Stanley Uris, back to Derry to honor the promise they made in 1989 to kill It if it came back. While the others travel to Derry with only hazy memories and a sense of dread, Stan slashes his wrists in the bathtub soon after getting the call. The Losers meet for dinner at a Chinese restaurant, where Mike refreshes their memories while they are tormented by hallucinations and learn of Stan's death. Richie and Eddie decide to leave until Beverly reveals that ever since she was exposed to It's Deadlights, she has been experiencing visions of their deaths should they fail or leave town without fulfilling their promise. Mike takes Bill to his library abode and shows him, via a drug-induced vision, that the Shokopiwah Native American tribe's Ritual of Chüd can stop It for good. After the others agree to perform the ritual, Mike explains that the ritual requires seven personal items from their past to be sacrificed. At a baseball game, a little girl named Victoria is killed after It deceives her by saying that he can remove a birthmark from her face. Meanwhile, Henry Bowers, who survived being pushed into the well at the Neibolt house and was arrested for murdering his father in 1989, escapes from a mental institution with help from It. Getting Stan's shower cap in the Losers' old clubhouse, Mike advises the others to find their artifacts by retracing their steps following their falling out after first entering the Neibolt house. Beverly finds Ben’s love letter at her old home, still believing Bill wrote it, and encounters It posing as Mrs. Kersh. Ben recalls his childhood encounter with It at high school before realizing his artifact is the yearbook page Beverly signed which he kept in his wallet. Both Richie and Eddie recall their own personal encounters with It while retrieving their artifacts: a game token from an abandoned arcade, and an inhaler. Pennywise taunts Richie about his sexuality, leading to him deciding to leave again and reconsidering again after recalling Stan's bar mitzvah, before menacing Eddie in the guise of the Leper, but flees when Eddie standing up to It causes the being to shrink in size. Bill finds his childhood bicycle "Silver" and recovers the paper boat from the storm drain where Georgie was killed while meeting a boy named Dean, who they saw earlier at the restaurant and lives at his old house and hears voices from the shower drain. Bill regroups with the others before running off to the carnival and into a funhouse after learning It is going after Dean, only to end up watching helplessly as It kills the boy in front of him. Henry unsuccessfully attempts to murder Eddie before attacking Mike, though Richie intervenes and kills him. The Losers join a traumatized Bill at the Neibolt house, talking him out of facing It alone out of guilt. The group descends into a cavern beneath the sewers, Mike providing a rock from the Losers' fight with the Bowers Gang as they perform the ritual in the remains of the meteor that brought It to Earth ages ago. The ritual appears to work in trapping the Deadlights in the sealing jar, but they escape after It emerges from the jar in a giant spider-like form. It pressures Mike into revealing that It killed those who previously performed the ritual and that Mike created the sealing jar. Mike assures the others they have a better chance in facing their fears but they accuse Mike of lying to them. It attacks the Losers and places Bill, Ben, and Beverly in nightmarish scenarios, which they escape once Bill lets go of his guilt over Georgie's death and Beverly realizes Ben wrote the love letter, while Richie and Eddie are forced to choose from three doors. Mike gets caught by It, but Richie manages to distract It allowing Mike to escape, getting caught in It's Deadlights, and Eddie is fatally impaled after saving him. Eddie reveals how he made It feel small earlier, making the Losers realize they can do that by exploiting his requirement of a physical form and how they see it. They begin taunting It, showing that they are not afraid of any of It's forms and calling the creature "just a clown.” Their plan works, with It surprisingly regressing physically and mentally into a helpless infant. Mike proceeds to rip out It's heart so he and the Losers can crush it, finally killing It for good. Eddie dies from his injuries, and the Losers are forced to leave him behind when It's death causes a cave-in that destroys the Neibolt house. The remaining Losers comfort Richie as he mourns for Eddie, their ordeal's end signified by the scars on their hands disappearing. After the Losers part ways, Ben and Beverly become a couple, Richie returns to the kissing bridge where he had once carved his and Eddie's initials, Mike decides to move out of Derry and start a new life, and Bill begins writing his new story before receiving a call from Mike as he leaves Derry, learning that Stan sent them all posthumous letters. Stan reveals in his letter that he was too scared to deal with Pennywise again and his suicide was actually a means to give his friends a fighting chance against It and asks the remaining Losers to live life to the fullest. Cast * Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh: The only female member of the Losers Club, who was abused physically and sexually by her father, was bullied at school over false rumors of promiscuity, and was Bill and Ben's love interest. As an adult, she has become a successful fashion designer in New York City while enduring an abusive marriage to Tom Rogan. ** Sophia Lillis as Young Beverly Marsh * James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough: The most resourceful, the determined former leader of the Losers Club who sought revenge for the murder of his younger brother, Georgie, and fought his killer, Pennywise, during the summer of 1989. He promises that he and the other Losers will return to Derry if It resurfaces. As an adult, Bill is a successful mystery novelist in Los Angeles, and is married to a successful actress named Audra Phillips. ** Jaeden Martell as Young Bill Denbrough * Bill Hader as Richie Tozier: Bill's bespectacled best friend and fellow member of the Losers Club, whose loud mouth and foul language often get him into trouble. As an adult, Richie becomes a successful stand-up comic in Chicago. ** Finn Wolfhard as Young Richie Tozier * Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon: A member of the Losers Club who fought against It. As an adult, Mike is the only one to stay in Derry and becomes the town librarian. He summons the other Losers back to Derry when It resurfaces. ** Chosen Jacobs as Young Mike Hanlon ** Tristian Levi Cox and Torian Matthew Cox as 4-year-old Mike Hanlon * Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom: A member of the Losers Club who fought against It and was bullied as a child for being overweight. As an adult, he is an attractive and successful but lonely architect living in upstate New York and running his own company called Hanscom Architecture. **Jeremy Ray Taylor as Young Ben Hanscom * James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak: A member of the Losers Club who is the epitome of a hypochondriac. As an adult, Eddie is a successful risk assessor for an insurance firm in New York City and is married to Myra, who is very similar to his over-protective mother Sonia. ** Jack Dylan Grazer as Young Eddie Kaspbrak * Andy Bean as Stanley Uris: A pragmatic member of the Losers Club who fought against It. As an adult, he becomes a founding partner of a large accounting firm in Atlanta and is married to a woman named Patty Blum. ** Wyatt Oleff as Young Stanley Uris * Bill Skarsgård as It / Pennywise the Dancing Clown: An ancient, trans-dimensional monster that awakens every twenty-seven years to feed on the fear of children that it murders. Pennywise is It's favorite and primary form. It was overpowered and seriously wounded by the Losers Club in 1989, forcing it into early hibernation. This defeat motivates the monster to rebuild its strength and exact revenge against the Losers once they return to Derry. Other forms of It include Joan Gregson as Mrs. Kersh, an apparently sweet and gentle elderly woman, and actually a perfidious monster, who lives in Beverly's childhood home; Javier Botet as Hobo, a leper man who encountered Eddie at the 29 Neibolt Street house, and also as The Witch, the monstrous form of Mrs. Kersh, Jackson Robert Scott as Georgie Denbrough, Bill's deceased younger brother, and Owen Teague as Patrick Hockstetter, Henry's dead friend who was killed by Pennywise in the sewers in 1989. It also briefly appears without clown makeup, as his alias Bob Gray (also played by Skarsgård). Additionally, Teach Grant portrays Henry Bowers, a psychopath who terrorized the Losers Club in the summer of 1989 before he was arrested for killing his father. Nicholas Hamilton reprises his role as the young Henry Bowers. Molly Atkinson reprises her role as Sonia, Eddie's Munchausen syndrome by proxy-stricken mother, and also plays Eddie's wife Myra, who is very similar to Sonia. Xavier Dolan and Taylor Frey appear as Adrian Mellon and Don Hagarty, a gay couple who are attacked by a group of youths during a carnival before Mellon is killed by It, while Jake Weary appears as Webby, the leader of the youth gang who attacks Adrian and Don. Luke Roessler portrays Dean, a young boy who meets Bill near the storm drain where Georgie was killed in 1988, and is later killed by It at the Funland, while Ryan Kiera Armstrong appears as Victoria Fuller, a little girl with a large birthmark on her cheek, who is killed by It after he lures her to under the bleachers at a baseball game. Jess Weixler portrays Bill's wife Audra Denbrough (née Phillips), Will Beinbrink portrays Beverly's abusive husband Tom Rogan, and Martha Girvin appears as Stanley's wife Patty. Stephen Bogaert, Jake Sim, Logan Thompson, Joe Bostick and Megan Charpentier reprise their roles from the first film as Beverly's abusive father Alvin Marsh, Henry's friends Reginald "Belch" Huggins and Victor "Vic" Criss, pharmacist Mr. Keene, and Keene's daughter Gretta, respectively. Juno Rinaldi portrays the adult Gretta. It writer and creator of the original 1986 novel Stephen King cameos as a pawn shop owner, the film's director Andy Muschietti cameos as a customer at the pharmacy, and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich cameos as the director of the film based on Bill's novel. Brandon Crane, who portrayed the young Ben in the 1990 miniseries adaptation, also makes a cameo appearance as a board member of Hanscom Architecture. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was sought for a cameo as the janitor that Ben encounters when fleeing from Pennywise. Despite nearly securing del Toro, he was not included in the final film. Katie Lunman reprises her role as Betty Ripsom in a vocal capacity, in addition to portraying a second character, Chris Unwin. Maturin the Turtle was reported to be in the film. This did not happen, though a golden turtle statue can be seen in the adult Ben's home and a smaller one can be seen in a classroom scene. Production Development On February 16, 2016, producer Roy Lee, in an interview with Collider, mentioned a second It film, remarking, "Dauberman wrote the most recent draft working with Muschietti, so it's being envisioned as two movies." On July 19, 2017, Muschietti revealed that production was set to begin in the spring of 2018, adding, "We'll probably have a script for the second part in January 2018. Ideally, we would start prep in March. Part one is only about the kids. Part two is about these characters 27 years later as adults, with flashbacks to 1989 when they were kids." On July 21, 2017, Muschietti spoke of looking forward to having a dialogue in the second film that does not exist within the first, stating, "... it seems like we're going to do it. It's the second half, it's not a sequel. It's the second half and it's very connected to the first one." Muschietti stated that two cut scenes from the first film will possibly be included in the second, one of which being the fire at the Black Spot from the book. On September 25, 2017, New Line Cinema announced that the sequel would be released on September 6, 2019, with Gary Dauberman and Jeffrey Jurgensen (who later went uncredited) writing the script. Andy Muschietti returned to direct. Dauberman would later leave the project to write and direct Annabelle Comes Home, while Jason Fuchs was brought in as his replacement. Casting In an interview in July 2017, the child actors from the first film were asked which actors they would choose to play them in the sequel. Sophia Lillis chose Jessica Chastain and Finn Wolfhard chose Bill Hader, both of whom would end up cast in those roles. In September 2017, Muschietti and his sister mentioned that Chastain would be their top choice to play the adult version of Beverly Marsh. In November 2017, Chastain herself expressed interest in the project. Finally, in February 2018, Chastain officially joined the cast to portray the character, making the film her second collaboration with Muschietti after Mama. By April 2018, Hader and James McAvoy were in talks to join the cast to play adult versions of Richie Tozier and Bill Denbrough, respectively. In May 2018, James Ransone, Jay Ryan, and Andy Bean joined the cast to portray adult versions of Eddie Kaspbrak, Ben Hanscom, and Stanley Uris, respectively. In June 2018, Isaiah Mustafa joined as the adult version of Mike Hanlon, while Xavier Dolan and Will Beinbrink were also cast as Adrian Mellon and Tom Rogan, respectively. Later, Teach Grant was cast to play the adult version of Henry Bowers, played by Nicholas Hamilton, and Jess Weixler was also cast, as Bill's wife. This is the second collaboration between McAvoy, Chastain, Hader, Weixler and Beinbrink after The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. In September 2018, it was revealed that Javier Botet would appear in the film. He played It forms, Hobo the Leper and The Witch. Filming Principal photography on the film began on June 19, 2018, at Pinewood Toronto Studios. The sewer system set was constructed at Pinewood, while the actual grate is located in North York. Much of the location work was done in and around Port Hope during summer 2018, as the town stood in for the fictional Derry, Maine; signs and decor were changed as necessary. The Town Hall exterior was used as the Derry Library. Some exterior shots of the hotel were filmed at the town's Hotel Carlyle. Some interiors were filmed at a 1902 mansion in Toronto, Cranfield House, while homes in the city, and in Oshawa and Pickering, were used as exteriors. An old mansion set was built for exteriors of the Pennywise home, and later burned, in Oshawa. The synagogue in the film was actually the Congregation Knesseth Israel in Toronto. Derry High School exteriors were filmed at the Mount Mary Retreat Centre in Ancaster, Ontario. Other locations used by the production included the Elora Quarry Conservation Area, the Scottish Rite in Hamilton, Ontario, Audley Park in Ajax, Ontario, Rouge Park in Scarborough, Toronto (as The Barrens) and The Mandarin Restaurant in Mississauga. million for Ontario's economy}} Filming concluded in early November 2018 after 86 days of production. Post-production The visual effects were provided by Atomic Arts and Method Studios. They were supervised by Brooke Lyndon-Stanford, Justin Cornish, and Josh Simmonds, as well as Nicholas Brooks as the Production Supervisor, with help from Cubica, Lola VFX, Make VFX, Rodeo FX and Soho VFX. The teenage actors were digitally de-aged to match their respective ages during filming of the first film. Music | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = | length = 101:14 | label = WaterTower Music | producer = | prev_title = Hellboy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | prev_year = 2019 | next_title = | next_year = }} On March 29th, 2019 it was announced that English composer, conductor, and pianist Benjamin Wallfisch, who had previously composed original scores for films such as Hidden Figures, Blade Runner 2049, and Shazam!, was set to compose the soundtrack for It Chapter Two, Film Music Reporter|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-03}} marking this as the second time the composer has worked with director Andy Muschietti, after previously composing the soundtrack for the first film It (2017). The soundtrack features 45 original tracks that were released on August 30th, 2019. Film Music Reporter|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-03}} According to Wallfisch, the score for It Chapter Two features a larger orchestra and choir than previously and draws on both themes from the first film's soundtrack with "more scale and ambition — to reflect the scope of the film", as well as creates new themes to reflect the characters development over the past 27 years. Release It Chapter Two had its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, California on August 26, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 6, 2019 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Marketing The first image of the adult versions of the Losers' Club was released on July 2, 2018, as principal photography began. The first teaser poster of the film was released on October 31, 2018. Footage from the film was shown at the CinemaCon on April 2, 2019. A second teaser poster was released on May 9, 2019, along with a teaser trailer. On July 17, 2019, the second poster and the final trailer were released at the San Diego Comic-Con. Home media The film was released in a digital format on November 19, 2019. A release on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K was on December 10, 2019 in the United States. Super Cut In September 2019, Muschietti expressed interest in releasing a "Super Cut" version of both chapters. This version would combine both films into one with scenes that were left in the editing process. Muschietti also mentioned the possibility of adding two or three new scenes that would be shot for this edition. The future of this version has not yet been announced, as of September 2019. Reception Box office It Chapter Two has grossed $211.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $261.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $473 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $90–100 million from 4,570 theaters in its opening weekend, and the week of its release broke Fandango's record for most advance tickets sold by a horror film. The film made $37.4 million in its first day, including $10.5 million from Thursday night previews, the second-highest total for both a September opening and horror film, behind the first film's $13.5 million. It went on to debut to $91 million, also the second-best ever for a horror film and a September release, while being over $30 million less than the first film. The lower debut was attributed to a more mixed critical reception, as well as the nearly three-hour runtime, which exhibitors said curbed business. It made $40.7 million in its second weekend, retaining the top spot, before making $17.2 million in its third weekend and being dethroned by newcomer Downton Abbey. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 349 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "It: Chapter Two proves bigger doesn't always mean scarier for horror sequels, but a fine cast and faithful approach to the source material keep this follow-up afloat." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 58 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same as the first film, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 76% and a 56% "definite recommend." Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper praised the production design and cast, but said the film was not as scary as the first, specifying, "For all of Muschietti's visual flourishes and with the greatly talented Bill Skarsgård again delivering a madcap, disturbingly effective, all-in performance as the dreaded Pennywise, It: Chapter Two had a relatively muted impact on me." Variety s Peter DeBruge wrote, "The clown is back, and the kids have grown up in part two of Stephen King's monster novel, which inspires an overlong, but suitably scary sequel," while Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, stating that "It Chapter Two can be a sprawling, unwieldy mess—overlong, overstuffed and full of frustrating detours—but its casting is so spot-on, its actors have such great chemistry and its monster effects are so deliriously ghoulish that the film keeps you hooked." Katie Rife of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade of "C+," praising Hader's performance but summarizing, "What a shame, then to build this beautiful stage, populate it with talented actors and high-level craftspeople, and then drop them all through the trap door of plodding humor and scattershot plotting." Aja Romano of Vox called the film "well-made and entertaining," but criticized what she termed the "lack of chemistry" between members of the adult cast, and wrote that the film "muddles the message" of the novel on which it is based. Rich Juzwiak of Jezebel gave the film a negative review, calling it "meandering" and "a movie that has no sense of its rules." Accolades Possible sequel In September 2019, Skarsgård spoke of the possibility of a third installment, saying, "It would have to be the right type of approach to it. The book ends where the second movie ends, so that is the final chapter of this story. There is this interesting aspect of going back in time before all this happened. There might be a story there that might be worth exploring. Obviously that would be a story that's not in the book, it would be a freestanding story, but obviously within the same universe. So, there might be something interesting out of it. I think it would be fun."https://ew.com/movies/2019/09/08/it-chapter-two-pennywise-bill-skarsgard/ In November 2019, Dauberman discussed in an interview of the possibility of a third film, saying, "I do think it's possible. Anything in the Stephen King Universe interests me but there's only so much of the story we could tell in the two movies. There are definitely elements of the novel you could expand on and make its own movie. It's just a question of whether or not people want to see it but I do think It was on this planet for a very, very, very long time and that's a lot of bloodshed and a lot of stories to tell and I think you could do that for sure." References External links * * * * * * Category:IMAX films Category:2019 films Category:2019 horror films Category:2010s horror thriller films Category:2010s monster movies Category:2010s psychological horror films Category:2010s sequel films Category:2010s supernatural horror films Category:American horror thriller films Category:American films Category:American films about revenge Category:American monster movies Category:American psychological horror films Category:American sequel films Category:American supernatural horror films Category:Demons in film and television Category:Films about domestic violence Category:Films about psychopaths Category:Films about shapeshifting Category:Films based on American horror novels Category:Films based on works by Stephen King Category:Films directed by Andy Muschietti Category:Films produced by Dan Lin Category:Films set in the 1980s]] Category:Films set in the 2010s Category:Films set in fictional populated places Category:Films set in Maine Category:Screenplays by Gary Dauberman Category:Homophobia in fiction Category:Horror films about clowns Category:It (novel) Category:LGBT-related horror films Category:New Line Cinema films Category:Number-one films in the United States